Morning TV hosts' Stephen Hawking tribute goes hilariously wrong

The hosts cut to images of Stephen Hawking - with entirely inappropriate music. Photo / Twitter

A heartfelt tribute to renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who died yesterday at the age of 76, quickly went wrong on British television today.

Holly Willoughby and Phil Schofield, hosts of UK breakfast program This Morning, were sombre as they introduced a tribute package to the late genius.

"Now, let's pay tribute to the world-renowned physicist and genuine genius, Stephen Hawking," said Willoughby.

"He leaves behind a huge legacy, not just as a mathematician and astrophysicist, but also as an inspiration to millions," said Schofield, as the screen cut to a static image of Hawking.

And the musical accompaniment to this tender tribute? For some reason, Meghan Trainor's pop smash All About That Bass.

Viewers witnessed the jarring juxtaposition — an image of Hawking, as Trainor sung her body positivity anthem about the power of her bountiful booty — for a couple of seconds before the obvious audio error was rectified.

It was long enough for those watching the show to revel in the mistake:

Maybe Stephen Hawking secretly liked Meghan Trainor https://t.co/vSqc3vbel3

— reba t (@rebajesse) March 14, 2018

YALL IM CRYING THE MEGHAN TRAINOR OVER THE STEPHEN HAWKING TRIBUTE

— c (@hottielipa) March 14, 2018

Meghan Trainor: All About That Bass 🍑
Stephen Hawking: All About That Space 🚀

Easy mistake to make tbh #ThisMorning. @ITV

— 𝔽𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕩 𝕆’𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟 (@adamfelixobrien) March 14, 2018

Even in death, Hawking, who made hilarious cameos in shows like The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory, just notched up another very funny television moment.

This Morning wasn't the only one to flub a Hawking tribute — Ginger Spice herself, Geri Halliwell, posted tributes to a "Stephen Hawkins" across her social media channels which are still up despite hundreds of fans pointing out that she'd misspelled Hawking's surname.